Cleaning Your Teeth: The Essential Money Saving Guide

Posted on 08. Aug, 2010 by Forest in General, Health, Personal Hygiene, Saving Money & Finances

We clean our teeth at least twice a day (or at least you should be) and purchase the products to do so many times in a year. It’s not exactly the kind of expense that breaks the bank but when trying to live frugally and economize your life it’s important to cut expenses in every area that you can.

The easiest way to save money cleaning your teeth immediately would be to clean them less but this is silly as correct cleaning at least twice a day will probably save you thousands of precious dollars throughout your lifetime. Keep your teeth and guns healthy and you won’t be seeing the men in the white coats quite so often (talking about the dentist here…. Regular brushing does not safe guard against insanity, sorry!).

Hopefully this post will make you think about your brushing a little more and help you save some $$$$$$$$$’s.

The teeth cleaning equipment

At very least you should be using a brush, toothpaste and floss. Mouthwash is another good item to add to the list especially if you suffer from bad breath.

Toothbrushes

I use a normal manual toothbrush but Electric Toothbrushes are certainly a good option too.

Regular toothbrushes need replacing at least every 3 months so you know you will be using at least 4 toothbrushes per year. If you have a whole family that creates a whole lot of toothbrushes every year. So why do so many people just buy one brush at a time?

• Test. First you should test a few brushes until you find a suitable one for your teeth and mouth. You need something comfortable that fits your teeth and a hardness that does not rip at your gums. I like brushes that are medium hard but have a flex in the handle.
• Find a bulk seller. There is absolutely no reason not to buy toothbrushes in bulk and you will certainly save this way. Sometimes your local supermarket may have BOGOF offers or you may find discounts in cash & carry style stores like Cost Cutter but I always like the online option. Amazon stocks almost all the brushes you can imagine in bulk at discounted prices. A pack of 10 branded toothbrushes can be picked up for around $10.

Check out: Branded Toothbrushes In Bulk On Amazon <–Affiliate link

Electric toothbrushes are the other option. They clean very fast and many people think they are superior. I tried the budget option of using cheap electric toothbrushes in the past but that is a terrible option as they break fast and don’t clean as well as other brushes. This purchase is worth spending a medium amount of cash on and again I think the online option is good for this. On sites like Amazon you can see 100′s of other reviewers opinions of the brush, compare prices/products and specs and make a good informed decision. I would also strongly advise you ask your friends and maybe even see if you can try their recommended brushes out (they should have a spare head you can use / pay for).

Check out: Electric Toothbrushes on Amazon <–Affiliate link

Toothpaste

Toothpaste is important and like anything I think you should test many types until you settle on one that feels good for you. I would advise you look for a paste that is not tested on animals and where possible contains all natural ingredients. It may be more expensive but again buying online in bulk can reduce the long term costs dramatically.

The Toothpaste Myth: If you ever watch a toothpaste advert you will often see a man in a white coat (likely an actor, not a trusty doctor!) or a very attractive young lady squeeze an extremely liberal amount of toothpaste onto his/her shiny toothbrush. Never questioning this most of us follow the same rule and in my opinion we are wasting a lot of toothpaste (which equals money!) every year. You only need to use enough toothpaste to create a blob about the size of a single pea! This is about 1/3rd of what most of us use. By this rights your single tube of toothpaste will last 3 times longer. I heard this years ago and have been doing it since. I also recently asked my dentist about this and he verified that it was not necessary to use more than that to get the best results cleaning your teeth.

Extra toothpaste saving trick: When you think have squeezed every last drop of toothpaste from that tube it’s still no where near finished! Just get a pair of scissors and cut the tube in half. Then pop the cut tube in a Tupperware or Ziplock bag and you will have enough paste in the tube at least for a few more days.

Check out Natural Toothpaste on Amazon (in bulk) <– Affiliate link

Floss

Again with floss just be mindful of how much you are using. Don’t pull out 2′ of floss for one cleaning, just practice and see how you cut down on usage. Like all products floss comes in all kinds of wonderful types, some testing is required but then bulk buying is a great way to save.

Check Out Dental Floss 6 Packs on Amazon <– Affiliate link

Mouthwash

I don’t know how important mouthwash really is but it can’t do any extra harm to your teeth as far as I know. Buying large bottles in bulk will save you as always but you could also consider your own recipe. Some people gargle salted water as a simple way to keep their mouths and throats germ free but as this post from Ultimate Cosmetics shows there are also many more elaborate (but cheaper) homemade mouthwash options.

Check out Natural Mouthwash on Amazon <– Affiliate link

The teeth cleaning process

The actual process of cleaning teeth doesn’t cost much in itself but it is the way you clean your teeth that will save you a lot in future on you dental bills. So it’s important to clean your teeth in the right way and ideally follow with flossing and mouthwash if you want.

• Watch the water! Make sure you turn the tap off when not in use, even if you don’t have a water meter it’s good for the environment too!
• Clean your teeth for at least 3 minutes. I always do much longer if I ate late or have been eating or drinking sugary or acidic foods.
• Do a thorough job! Push down with a medium impact and make sure every tooth gets equal time being cleaned from different angles. Also make sure you get the fronts and backs of every tooth and right up in the gums. It’s always been advised to me to use circular motions on every tooth to loosen plaque and then up and down motions to actually remove the plaque.
• Clean your tongue. This action makes me gag but it stops a lot of bad breath problems and gets rid of some nasty bacteria.
• Floss between every tooth, even if it’s hard to get between them, don’t be lazy and give up (like I used to!). It’s also worthwhile to note that some floss works easier for different people so it’s worth switching brands if you have a big issue.

Your thoughts and advice….

As always it’s now time to hand it over to you in the comments. Please let me know of any tips to save money or clean your teeth more efficiently.

Thanks a million for reading

I’m also planning a post soon on Dental Tourism….. So watch this space.

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